Computer Crime Research Center

UNITED STATES: Cybercrime

Cyber Crime Training Collaboration With The National Center For Justice And The Rule Of Law

As today''''s technology-driven world provides a new arena for criminals and other unscrupulous actors, the Cyber Crime Project works to provide the necessary training and technical assistance to prosecutors in Attorney General Offices to enable them to successfully investigate and prosecute computer-based crimes. Funded through a cooperative effort between NAAG and the National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law at the University of Mississippi, the Project develops and conducts training seminars throughout the year at the University. Hedda Litwin, NAAG"s Cyber Crime and Violence Against Women Counsel, is responsible for the trainings. As of year end 2005, over 415 prosecutors from Attorneys General offices have attended the trainings. The Project also produces a Cyber Crime e-newsletter for prosecutors six times a year.

The first training, held on February 3-5, 2003, was designed to be a basic "nuts and bolts" course. An advisory committee of prosecutors with experience in cyber crime participated in the development of the three-day agenda, which included sessions on practical issues in computer search and seizure, forensics tools, identity theft and strategies for fighting online child exploitation.

The second basic cyber crime training for state prosecutors was held on May 6-8, 2003. In addition to the topics described above, the training included an expanded session on the psychology of the online predator and a session on the Internet Fraud Complaint Center.

An advanced cyber crime training was held on September 9-11, 2003 for prosecutors who had attended the basic cyber crime training or who had considerable experience with computer crimes. The training utilized a case scenario; session presenters then took that case from investigation and search warrant presentation through trial.

A specialized advanced cyber crime training, focusing on hacking, computer intrusion and computer virus crimes, was held on March 2-4, 2004. Among the topics covered were: ILook and other investigative tools, essentials of wiretaps, and assessment and recovery of damages. The course also featured a presentation by Microsoft on working with law enforcement to identify hackers and virus distributors. This training also included a CLE ethics component.

A Digital Evidence for Prosecutors training was held on September 21-23, 2004, focusing on prosecuting cases with digital evidence. This was the first training to feature a hands-on component as well. Topics covered during the course included chat and instant messaging, e-mail tracing, forensics, obtaining records from ISPs and peer-to-peer networks. The keynote speaker was former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and the keynote dinner speaker was Hany Farid, an expert on digital tampering, of Dartmouth.

An Advanced Training on Internet Auction Fraud was held on November 16-18, 2004 and again featured hands-on exercises. Among the many presenters were Jack Christin, Jr., Trust and Safety Counsel for eBay, and Elizabeth Banker, Associate General Counsel for Compliance at Yahoo. The keynote speaker was Howard Schmidt, Vice President and Chief Security Officer for eBay, and the speaker at the welcome dinner was John Malcolm, Senior Vice President and Director of World Wide Piracy Operations at the Motion Picture Association of America.

An Advanced Training on Search and Seizure of Computers and Obtaining of Electronic Evidence was held in conjunction with NCJRL''''s Fourth Amendment Symposium on February 15-17, 2005. Speaking at the Symposium were Professors Orin Kerr of George Washington University School of Law, Susan Brenner of the University of Dayton School of Law and Christopher Slobogin of the University of Florida School of Law. Patrick Corbett, Professor of Law at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, was the keynote speaker at the welcome dinner.

Another Basic Cyber Crime Training was held on May 3-5, 2005. It included a panel on common pitfalls and prosecution issues in computer-related cases, as well as a presentation on spam and phishing by Microsoft attorney Aaron Kornblum.

In response to the growing emphasis on preventing identity theft crimes, a training on Computer-Facilitated Identity Theft was held on November 1-3, 2005. Among the speakers were Joanna Crane, Manager of the Identity Theft Program at the Federal Trade Commission and Victor Lee, a consultant with the International Biometric Group. The program also featured a discussion of the Ohio Attorney General''''s passport program, presented by Robin McGuire Rose of that office.